Dr. Paul Conti: How to Understand & Assess Your Mental Health | Huberman Lab Guest Series

This is episode 1 of a 4-part special series on mental health with psychiatrist Dr. Paul Conti, M.D., who trained at Stanford School of Medicine and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School before founding his clinical practice, the Pacific Premiere Group. Dr. Conti defines mental health in actionable terms and describes the foundational elements of the self, including the structure and function of the unconscious and conscious mind, which give rise to all our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. He also explains how to explore and address the root causes of anxiety, low confidence, negative internal narratives, over-thinking and how our unconscious defense mechanisms operate. This episode provides a foundational roadmap to assess your sense of self and mental health. It offers tools to reshape negative emotions, thought patterns and behaviors — either through self-exploration or with a licensed professional. The subsequent three episodes in this special series explore additional tools to further understand and improve your mental health.

Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this episode: https://ai.hubermanlab.com/s/9jvLHEkQ

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Dr. Paul Conti
Website: https://drpaulconti.com
Pacific Premier Group: https://pacificpremiergroup.com
Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal From It: https://amzn.to/41gxm1L
LinkedIn:   / dr-paul-m-conti-845074216  

Resources
Dr. Paul Conti: Therapy, Treating Trauma & Other Life Challenges (Huberman Lab episode): https://hubermanlab.com/dr-paul-conti...
The Iceberg Model: https://bit.ly/3Pr13sC
Pillars of Mental Health: https://bit.ly/3r11yjM

Timestamps
00:00:00 Dr. Paul Conti
00:03:46 Sponsors: BetterHelp & Waking Up
00:06:55 What is a Healthy Self?
00:10:41 Agency & Gratitude; Empowerment & Humility
00:16:13 Physical Health & Mental Health Parallels
00:20:21 Structure of Self; Unconscious vs. Conscious Mind; “Iceberg”
00:26:15 Defense Mechanisms; Character Structure “Nest”, Sense of Self
00:31:27 Predispositions & Character Structure
00:36:01 Sponsor: AG1
00:37:27 Character Structure & Action States; Physical Health Parallels
00:46:20 Anxiety; Understanding Excessive Anxiety
00:53:12 Improving Confidence: State Dependence & Phenomenology; Narcissism
00:59:44 Changing Beliefs & Internal Narratives
01:06:04 Individuality & Addressing Mental Health Challenges
01:11:21 Mental Health Goals & Growth
01:17:32 Function of Self
01:23:00 Defense Mechanisms: Projection, Displacement
01:30:14 Projection, Displacement, Projective Identification
01:34:50 Humor, Sarcasm, Cynicism
01:40:41 Attention & Salience; Negative Internal Dialogue
01:45:02 Repetition Compulsion & Defense Mechanism, Trauma
01:58:55 Mirror Meditation & Self Awareness; Structure & Function of Self, “Cupboards”
02:04:57 Pillars of the Mind, Agency & Gratitude, Happiness
02:13:53 Generative Drive, Aggressive & Pleasure Drives
02:21:33 Peace, Contentment & Delight, Generative Drive; Amplification
02:24:18 Generative Drive, Amplification & Overcoming
02:33:00 Over-Thinking, Procrastination, Choices
02:42:20 Aggressive, Pleasure & Generative Drives, Envy
02:49:46 Envy, Destruction, Mass Shootings
02:55:38 Demoralization, Isolation, Low Aggressive Drive
03:02:50 Demoralization, Affiliate Defense
03:09:32 Strong Aggressive Drive, Competition, Generative Drive Reframing
03:20:02 Cultivating a Generative Drive, Spirited Inquiry of the “Cupboards”
03:26:06 Current Mental Health Care & Medications
03:35:33 Role of Medicine in Exploration
03:40:41 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Momentous, Neural Network Newsletter

#HubermanLab #Science #MentalHealth

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com

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